Gregg Rosenthal

Free Agency Dose

Peyton's ideal landing spot

I’d like to thank him for kick-starting free agency before free agency really started.

This is the latest start to free agency (by far) since I started at Rotoworld in 2003. The first week of March just doesn’t feel right without non-stop signings, cuts and posts.

Manning season will get us through to Monday, when teams will make their final cuts before free agency starts at 4 p.m. ET Tuesday. (We'll post a top-50 free agents before then.)

Yes, this start time to free agency is much different. Usually free agency started at midnight and the biggest couple of days came on the weekend. Now we’ll have wall-to-wall coverage here at Rotoworld throughout next week. By Friday evening, most of the biggest names will be signed.

In the meantime, we still have some players to speculate about. And what better way to kill time than making lists?

18 Value signings

Silva did a great job digging through the bargain bin earlier in the week. His column made it unnecessary to make my own value list, but I want to anyway. I'm not going to let Silva box me in a corner!

There are a lot of teams Campbell could upgrade. He was playing at a high level in Oakland and could be better than the starter in Kansas City, New York (Jets), and Denver. He won’t cost much.

2. Josh Johnson: The 49ers don’t really need another quarterback, but it would be fun to see what Jim Harbaugh could do with his former college pupil.

3. Vince Young: He would make a lot of sense as Tim Tebow’s backup. Young has started 50 games with solid production. You aren’t going to find many better backups with higher ceilings. He may not hold up as a 16-game starter, but he's perfect in a reserve role.

4. Kyle Orton: He will likely cost half of what the Broncos paid him last year. He’s another quarterback that is better than 5-10 starters in the league.

Running backs

5. Mike Tolbert: He has the defined skill sets you want in a backup. He can catch passes, block, convert in short-yardage, and help on special teams. A glue guy player for a championship-level team.

6. Tim Hightower: He’s coming off a major injury, but Hightower would be worth signing on a low-cost two-year deal. He does a lot of things well.

Wideouts

7. Brandon Lloyd: It’s all relative. Compared to the other top 5-10 receivers available, Lloyd should easily provide the most bang for the buck.

8. Eddie Royal: I’m piggybacking Silva here, but the man is right. Royal would be perfect for a team like the Giants that could use a smart slot receiver.

Michael Clayton: I’m not giving up on that 2004 rookie year! (Okay, this one is a joke to see if you guys are paying attention.)

There are no great tight end options. John Carlson won’t be a value because he’ll get played plenty.

Good centers shouldn’t be this easy to find. It’s easy to forget Koppen was one of the game’s best before an early season-ending injury last year. Wells is coming off his best season. The Chargers will probably do what they can to keep Hardwick.

I’d like to thank him for kick-starting free agency before free agency really started.

This is the latest start to free agency (by far) since I started at Rotoworld in 2003. The first week of March just doesn’t feel right without non-stop signings, cuts and posts.

Manning season will get us through to Monday, when teams will make their final cuts before free agency starts at 4 p.m. ET Tuesday. (We'll post a top-50 free agents before then.)

Yes, this start time to free agency is much different. Usually free agency started at midnight and the biggest couple of days came on the weekend. Now we’ll have wall-to-wall coverage here at Rotoworld throughout next week. By Friday evening, most of the biggest names will be signed.

In the meantime, we still have some players to speculate about. And what better way to kill time than making lists?

18 Value signings

Silva did a great job digging through the bargain bin earlier in the week. His column made it unnecessary to make my own value list, but I want to anyway. I'm not going to let Silva box me in a corner!

There are a lot of teams Campbell could upgrade. He was playing at a high level in Oakland and could be better than the starter in Kansas City, New York (Jets), and Denver. He won’t cost much.

2. Josh Johnson: The 49ers don’t really need another quarterback, but it would be fun to see what Jim Harbaugh could do with his former college pupil.

3. Vince Young: He would make a lot of sense as Tim Tebow’s backup. Young has started 50 games with solid production. You aren’t going to find many better backups with higher ceilings. He may not hold up as a 16-game starter, but he's perfect in a reserve role.

4. Kyle Orton: He will likely cost half of what the Broncos paid him last year. He’s another quarterback that is better than 5-10 starters in the league.

Running backs

5. Mike Tolbert: He has the defined skill sets you want in a backup. He can catch passes, block, convert in short-yardage, and help on special teams. A glue guy player for a championship-level team.

6. Tim Hightower: He’s coming off a major injury, but Hightower would be worth signing on a low-cost two-year deal. He does a lot of things well.

Wideouts

7. Brandon Lloyd: It’s all relative. Compared to the other top 5-10 receivers available, Lloyd should easily provide the most bang for the buck.

8. Eddie Royal: I’m piggybacking Silva here, but the man is right. Royal would be perfect for a team like the Giants that could use a smart slot receiver.

Michael Clayton: I’m not giving up on that 2004 rookie year! (Okay, this one is a joke to see if you guys are paying attention.)

There are no great tight end options. John Carlson won’t be a value because he’ll get played plenty.

Good centers shouldn’t be this easy to find. It’s easy to forget Koppen was one of the game’s best before an early season-ending injury last year. Wells is coming off his best season. The Chargers will probably do what they can to keep Hardwick.

5. Miami: There is depth at wide receiver, but no big playmakers and an offensive coach that may not fit Manning.

6. Denver: Manning can make any system work but I wonder if he’ll make sense with John Fox and two young starting wideouts.

7. Seattle: They wouldn’t be a run-first team any more.

8. The Field: I’ll be amazed if any other team signs Manning. For what it’s worth (not much), there really wasn’t much difference between the top and bottom of this list. Manning makes any offense his offense. He can make it work if healthy, even if he doesn’t recreate the 2004 Colts overnight.

On Mario

I went back to watch three Mario Williams games to see if it made any sense for the Texans to give him a big deal despite their 3-4 defense.

My sense is that he fits Wade Phillips’ scheme just fine. But he’s still not worth it for Houston.

Williams split snaps evenly with his hand down and standing up. He rarely dropped into coverage. (I counted four times in 2.5 games.) He is always on the line of scrimmage; so calling him a linebacker seems silly.

Williams is valuable because he can line up on either side of the defense and he often draws double teams. But in the games he played last year, Williams was no bigger difference-maker than J.J. Watt, Connor Barwin, or even Antonio Smith.

Charley Casserly’s prized pick beat Dallas Clark of the Colts for two sacks and Steelers rookie Marcus Gilbert for two more. (One of those Gilbert did a nice job but Big Ben ran into the sack.) Williams also disappeared against the Saints and for a long stretch against Pittsburgh. (Although Mario had a huge second half against the Steelers.) Williams can be attacked in the running game.

Seattle would be my prediction for where Williams ends up. It makes more sense for him to have his hand on the ground most plays. Houston is a team defense with a lot of working parts. They don’t need Williams. Williams stands out physically, but he’s just one key piece to the puzzle there. He doesn’t show up every game.

Williams has racked up sack totals over the years, but I’m not convinced he’s the every-down difference maker that he should be considering he’s likely to become the game’s highest paid defensive player. This isn’t Reggie White or even Julius Peppers in his prime.